Dead hands

By: Bert Belanger//Guest Columnist//April 4, 2019

Winding down my time as guest columnist for David Chapman, I come back to a subject that I touched on in an earlier essay about the Oklahoma County Jail. Beyond the jail’s failings, I mentioned the legal term “mort main,” which is Latin for dead hands. This term refers to the ever-deteriorating condition of a building or land when it is owned by an entity that lives forever; as nerd lawyers say, in perpetuity.

In medieval times, this term sometimes referred to property held by an ineffective or dying royal clan. Later, the term shows up when speaking about the vast (crumbling) holdings of the Anglican Church, or its later rivals. In my County Jail example, the “dead hands” owner is the government, with my thesis being that Oklahoma County would reap many more benefits if the dirt under the current jail were privately developed and a better set of facilities built elsewhere. Of all my essays so far, this idea drew the most debate and comment.

This debate is not surprising; the U.S. was founded on property rights and uniquely seeks to hold government accountable for optimal results. This is why I believe a solution will happen, eventually, in which the jail site becomes much more than it is currently.

This brings me to the other end of the spectrum of mort main – where a private entity owns real estate that it finds no longer suits the owner’s needs, and wants to sell it. The owner, composed of members of citizens in a legal corporate structure, still has a purpose and a reason to live on, but can no longer do so in the buildings that it built on the property and has owned for decades. The owner’s inability to function any longer in its current home is clear to the owner, and is becoming clear to everyone paying attention.

Of course, I am speaking of the “egg school,” First Christian Church, where our son attended pre-school; where, in April 1995, my entire family joined others to try and sooth hurting families until the Red Cross arrived. As an alum and fan of the Crown Heights neighborhood and an architecture buff, I will always remember fondly this unique edifice. However, I ultimately believe that it is and should be a private owner’s decision to sell, without interference, to whomever is willing to pay its price.

Bert Belanger is a broker with Adept Commercial Real Estate and a real estate attorney with Riggs Abney (bbelanger@riggsabney.com).